Today starts a new training block. It’s a number of things all coming together nicely.

First, I achieved some goals. Second, to achieve those goals took a bit of focus and beating up of my body. Part of that is repetative stress, so getting some different movements for a bit will be good for me. Part of it then is that I ate pretty well to support my efforts, but then also some life matters had me eating more than I should have — I’m still dealing with stress eating.

So, it’s evident in my videos that I’ve been growing a gut, and I’m not happy about it. In fact, I think back to when I dropped 66 lb and am not happy that I’ve almost gained it all back over the past couple years. I expected a little gain, but not this much. Sigh. It’s all my own fault of course. It makes me think towards longer-term goals: that right now I want to still hit a 400# squat – and in doing so, should likely hit other milestones like 225 press (I’m at 210 omw), 315 bench (I’m at 300 now), etc.. But once I hit those goals? I could keep going, but I think it’d be a more interesting challenge to me to try to get ripped. Don’t know yet, thinking about it.

But for now, I’m going to take the next 6-8 weeks or so and have a hypocaloric diet and see about dropping as much flab as I can – hopefully at least 10 lb. It’s a good time to do so as if I stayed on 5/3/1 I’d be resetting anyways. And I might as well use this opportunity to do some different movements to help me touch on some weak points and also just some different movements to give my body a break. Oh, and lighter weights too!

So here we are.

My general approach is influenced by methodologies so far. Keeping some sort of major/strength lift, but a variation: high-bar squats, incline bench press, front squat, barbell row. It’s kinda a push/pull/legs approach, but not pure because I will do a little work on other days. For example, I’m calling today “leg EMPHASIS” since it’s mostly about legs but there’s a little bit of push and pull. This is something from Renaissance Periodization, trying to get my volume over the course of the week vs. just 1 day a week. Each day emphasizes something, but gets a little bit of other things in there too. It seemed to work well for me in the past.

I’m also throwing in hypertrophy methodologies. One big one? Trying to follow a 3-1-1-1 tempo for everything apart from the main movement. I can tell already from today it’s going to make it tough.

Finally, I want some sort of conditioning work. Things like prowler pushes, yoke walks, farmer’s walks, sandbag carries, sled drags, whatever. Something to add some work, because my work capacity sucks – and it should help a bit with the fat burn.

Anyways…

Today was ok. Good start to things. Keeping it “light and easy” since it’s the first week. Simply doing it will be enough for my body right now, then over the coming weeks things will scale up. I will have to adjust weights a little bit, but overall today was dialed in ok.

That 3-1-1-1 tempo really changes things. Gotta drop the weight, but still it burns, it burns!

Oh… the Prowler.

I forgot how evil that thing was. 🙂

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Leg Emphasis 1. High-bar Squats (5,4,3,2,1,AMRAP,50%), leg press (quad emphasis, pyramid up), lying leg curls (350 method), seated DB press, incline DB curl, prowler push. . Starting a new training block. I have let my gut balloon up, and I need to pare it back. Going to spend the next 6-8 weeks working to drop about 10 lb. My lifting changes to a more hypertrophy-oriented style. It also just changes movements, which should help some of the repetitive stress injuries I have. . Using techniques like AMRAP, 50% sets, 350 method, 3-1-1-1 tempos on everything but the main movement, prefer DB to BB. Spreading volume throughout the week. . I also want to do some sort of strongman/conditioning each session. Yoke walk, farmers walk, prowler push, sandbag carry. Something. While I’ll program something, I’ll have to be flexible on this per gym conditions/equipment availability. . Today and this week is just about getting on the groove. Going to have to adjust my weights a bit, but it’s pretty good. And I haven’t pushed a Prowler in years. Oh hell, that hurt. . . . #gym #ignitefitnez #liftlocal #wendler531 #531 #liftrunbang #prowlerflu #fatloss

A post shared by John Daub (@hsoisauce) on Dec 31, 2018 at 5:08am PST

2019Q1 Mini-Cut; Leg Emphasis 1

• High-bar Squat (5,4,3,2,1,AMRAP,50%)
  • bar x 10
  • 135 x 5
  • 185 x 4
  • 225 x 3
  • 275 x 2
  • 315 x 1
  • 225 x 10
  • 225 x 5
• Leg Press (feet low and narrow, 3-1-1-1 tempo)
  • 180 x 10
  • 270 x 10
  • 360 x 10
• Lying Leg Curls (350 Method, 3-1-1-1 tempo)
  • 35 x 20
  • 35 x 12
  • 35 x 9
• Seated DB Press (3-1-1-1 tempo)
  • 30e x 10
  • 50e x 12
  • 50e x 8
  • 50e x 5
• Incline DB Curl (3-1-1-1 tempo)
  • 15e x 12
  • 15e x 12
  • 15e x 12
• Conditioning
  • Prowler push
  • high handles
  • 90#
  • run to the end of the turf (about 30-35 yards), turn around, run back.
  • 1:30 rest
  • 3 times.

Today wasn’t training – today was fun.

I’ve long wanted to do some lifting challenges, but never could find the right way to work it into my greater programming and goals. But everything converged well to make this week a fun week.

Two days ago, I hit a nice milestone of bench pressing 300 lb.

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Bench Press. 300 lb. PR. . Bar x 10, 95×5, 135×5, 185×3, 225×3, 250×1, 275×1, 300×1, 135×20. . Superset facepulls during bench warmup. Wide-grip pulldowns after. . One step closer to my “3” goal for Bench Press. 3 would be “3 wheels” – 315# – but “300” is a “3” milestone along the road. And a pretty cool one. Very happy with this PR, especially given all the injury and hurdles to get here. I learned a lot along this road. . Again, it’s just a fun week and this was one of the fun. So simply did 135×20 for giggles, then some lat pulldowns and 10 minutes on the bike for my knees. . . . #gym #benchpress #pr #ignitefitnez #liftlocal #wendler531 #531 #300poundsisalways300pounds

A post shared by John Daub (@hsoisauce) on Dec 18, 2018 at 5:02am PST

And then today I opted to try the Half-Hour Deadlift Challenge (from Dan John over at T-Nation). Basically, deadlift 315 60 times in 30 minutes. A number of ways to approach it, and I took the “1 rep every 30 seconds” approach.

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Deadlift. 315×60. Yes, 60 reps. . 135×5, 225×3, 315×60. . This week is a fun week. For sometime I’ve wanted to do some lifting challenges, and Dan John’s Half-Hour Deadlift Challenge seemed like it would be fun. Deadlift 315 lb 60 times in 30 minutes. I opted for the “1-rep every 30 seconds” variation. . I expected to die, but I didn’t. Sure I’m going to be sore tomorrow, but it really wasn’t too bad. The mental of staying in the zone for 30 minutes was the tougher part. . That was a lot of fun. Happy I did it. . It was also an excuse to try out time-lapse video. A bit a bit disappointed, since it looks like I’m just standing around the whole time. But it makes sense given the lift itself only took a couple seconds. Oh well. . . . #gym #deadlift #ignitefitnez #liftlocal #wendler531 #531 #timelapse #halfhourdeadliftchallenge #danjohn #tnation

A post shared by John Daub (@hsoisauce) on Dec 20, 2018 at 4:43am PST

(the time-lapse video didn’t turn out as illustrative as I wanted… but still fun)

I’m pretty sure I’ll be sore as hell tomorrow (and Saturday), but it really wasn’t that bad. Oh sure, I started to feel it maybe 10 minutes in, and close to the end I was getting a little tired, but I could have kept going for a while. It was more the mental, the “have to be in the zone for 30 minutes” that was the tougher part. But about 20 minutes in, it all went auto-pilot.

One thing I got out of it is the joy of singles, which I already was exploring with squats. It’s just different than going for reps. It can’t be all the program is about, but there’s quite the place for it.

Anyways, it was a lot of fun. I’m glad I did it.

500 lb deadlift. PR. Major milestone achieved.

That is all. 🙂

Opted to just do that and end there. I’m at the end of all the cycles and all the things, so felt no reason to beat myself up.

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Deadlift. 500×1. PR. . 135×5, 200×5, 245×5, 295×3, 370×5, 420×3, 470×4, 500×1. . 1+ week & Joker; heavy work. Jack-shit accessory work because I’m at the end of all the things and I’m drained. . Deadlifting 500 lb is just a great milestone. One long-term/big goal down. . The 470×4 was a nice rep PR too. . . . #gym #deadlift #pr #ignitefitnez #liftlocal #wendler531 #531 #deadliftingunicorn

A post shared by John Daub (@hsoisauce) on Dec 6, 2018 at 4:31am PST

• Deadlift
  • 135 x 5
  • 200 x 5
  • 245 x 5
  • 295 x 3
  • 370 x 5
  • 420 x 3
  • 470 x 4 (rep PR)
  • 500 x 1 (PR)
• Stationary Bike
  • 10 min.

PR of 295×1.

300 is just around the corner.

Today was pretty solid. The work up went well. Technique generally felt good. Focused on being tight, so much it hurt. Not rushing. Settle. All that good stuff.

Top work set of 275×4 was a rep PR. I remember when I hit 275 for a single and it was my all-time PR, and I’m sure it was kinda sketchy. Now 275 is just working weight, and I’m doing more. In fact, the 295 moved pretty well that I am certain 300 will be just fine.

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Bench Press. 295×1. Top set. PR. . Bar x 10, 115×5, 145×5, 175×3, 215×5, 245×3, 275×4, 295×1. . Superset facepulls, DB rows. Paused Bench Press. Close-grip pulldowns. . 1+ week & Joker. Good day! Top work set of 275×4 was a rep PR. Then 295×1 went up easier than expected. Like yesterday’s squat, not an ideal bar path, but I’ll take it. Sets a lifetime PR. . 300 should be cake. . I found another reason I like the pause bench: descent. Note on the 295 a “twitch” during the descent? There’s a weak point (for lack of a better descriptor) there. I noticed on my pause benches, since the descent is very controlled, a little something happened at that point. I reckon this sort of lighter, more deliberately controlled descent work ought to help those stabilizers. . Anyways, good day. . . . #gym #benchpress #pr #ignitefitnez #liftlocal #wendler531 #531

A post shared by John Daub (@hsoisauce) on Dec 4, 2018 at 4:45am PST

I also found another reason to like the pause benches. If you watch the 295, you’ll see a little… I don’t know what to call it, but on the descent a little “hitch”? weak point? stumble? Whatever it’s called, something wasn’t too stable. I noticed while pause benching that, because of the exaggeratedly slow descent, that when I hit that same point there was “something” there. I reckon maybe there’s some sort of muscle weakness at that point? Can’t say for sure, but it’s interesting to me. So, I hope that the pause benching, because of the descent work, should provide some additional improvements beyond the “no momentum to get out of the hole” work.

Anyways, happy day.

5/3/1 (8th cycle, 3+/5/1+PR, Joker)

• Bench Press
  • bar x 10
  • 115 x 5
  • 145 x 5
  • 175 x 3
  • 215 x 5
  • 245 x 3
  • 275 x 4 (rep PR)
  • 295 x 1 (PR)
• Face Pulls (superset with bench warm-up sets)
  • 90 x 15
  • 90 x 15
  • 90 x 15
  • 90 x 15
• DB Rows (superset with bench work sets)
  • 105 x 10e
  • 105 x 10e
  • 105 x 10e
• Pause Bench Press
  • 185 x 5
  • 185 x 5
  • 185 x 5
• Narrow-Grip Pulldowns
  • 90 x 10
  • 125 x 12
  • 125 x 12
  • 125 x 10